New York bike-sharing program delayed again because of storm

By Peter Rudegeair

NEW YORK Dec 7 The rollout of New York City's
bicycle-sharing program, to be the largest in the United States,
will be delayed for two months and initially scaled back because
of damage that bikes and docking systems sustained during
Superstorm Sandy.

The city will push back the debut of Citi Bike, its
self-service short-term bike rental program, to May 2013 from
March in order to replace and refurbish many of the electrical
components that were exposed to floodwater, the New York City
Department of Transportation and New York City Bike Share said
in a statement on Friday.

It is the second time the much-anticipated program, which
resembles existing programs in Washington, D.C., Boston and
Minneapolis, has been delayed in four months.

"Despite the damage, New York will have the nation's largest
bike-share system up and running this spring," Transportation
Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said in a statement.

About two-thirds of the system's equipment was housed at a
facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the edge of the East River
before the storm, an area that was badly flooded.

Electronics in the bikes, which are equipped with
GPS-navigation devices, and the docking stations, which make use
of solar power arrays, were damaged, according to a spokesman
for the Department of Transportation. In addition, about half of
the bikes themselves were damaged, some requiring significant
repair, the spokesman said in an email.

Only 5,500 bikes and about 300 stations in Manhattan and
Brooklyn would be operational in May, short of the 7,000 bikes
and 420 stations the city previously said would be available at
the program's launch.

By the end of the year, the program will grow to 7,000 bikes
and will extend to Queens. At its peak, Citi Bike will offer
10,000 bikes at 600 stations in the three boroughs.

Originally scheduled to begin in July, Citi Bike was delayed
until the spring of 2013 because of software issues.

The delays will not have an effect on the $41 million that
Citigroup contributed to finance the system, the Department of
Transportation and New York City Bike Share said.
(Reporting By Peter Rudegeair; Editing by Paul Thomasch)